Capablanca: A Primer Of Checkmate

By Del Rosario

Capablanca: A Primer Of Checkmate

Mongoose Press (2010)

176 pages

$17.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

Many American players who learned chess in the 1960s and early 1970s fondly remember THE ART OF CHECKMATE by Renaud and Kahn. The two French masters classic primer covered all the basic checkmating patterns in an enjoyable fashion with well-chosen examples, good explanation, and catchy names for the various mates.

Bay Area chess writer and teacher Frisco Del Rosario has incorporated this structure into his latest book, CAPABLANCA: A PRIMER OF CHECKMATE. Del Rosario uses 58 games of the great Cuban to illustrate and explain the classic mates whose names echo through time – Greco, Boden and Pillsbury to name but three. Capablanca is primarily remembered for his positional play and endgame prowess but as Del Rosario shows, he packed plenty of punch.

CAPABLANCA: A PRIMER OF CHECKMATE resembles the Irving Chernev classic LOGICAL CHESS MOVE BY MOVE in its structure. Comments are not given every single move but it is rare that more than a move or two passes without an instructive comment by the author.

This book will be quite helpful for players rated between 1200 and 1800.